TV presenter Laura Whitmore loves date nights at Koko, shops at Beyond Retro and drinks at the Toucan

North London, for more than a decade. I only came here for a year after winning a contract to be the face of MTV — and I never left.

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Home is ...

My heart is still in Ireland and I have a place there so I go back when I can. But London has been very good to me. I live here with my family and our little dog, a Maltipoo called Mick.

Where do you stay in London?

Even though I live here I'm lucky that I get to stay in some beautiful hotels for work. The Revery Bar at the Hilton on Park Lane does delicious cocktails. I stayed at Claridge’s recently and I’m obsessed with the spa and decor. And The Savoy is pretty special too. The Soho Hotel holds a special place in my heart — it’s where I found out I'd won the MTV competition. My life changed after that.

Where was your first flat?

I'm really proud that I bought my first flat in Camden when I was 27. I still own it. Maybe it's an Irish thing about owning land, but being able to buy that myself was special. Before that I rented a room in Camden I found on a spare room website — I lived with two solicitors. Needless to say I was the odd one out with the unconventional job.

What was your first job here?